What We Lost
by JennySmith-TARDIS
Summary: Twelve years ago, tragedy struck the Potter Family. With three dead, the traitor imprisoned, the survivor sent to live with relatives, and one left to morn the past, all was thought finished. When the traitor escapes, secrets are revealed. Secrets of things that happened long before that terrible Halloween night. Currently undergoing revision and editing before being continued.
1. Pilot

Dark clouds loomed ominously above the station as people hurried in and out hoping to avoid the storm.

A black cab pulled up to the curb and a young woman stepped out. She looked up at the threatening clouds, sighed and then turned to help pull her trunk out of the cab and onto an cart. Once that was finished she paid the cabby and started towards the station.

As soon as she was inside she pulled a train ticket out of her pocket and read it quickly. Confusion was evident on her face when she looked up, but she set off, occasionally looking down and checking the ticket.

She reached a barrier and looked up at the platform number. A ginger boy passed her, followed by a boy with dark hair and a girl with bushy brown hair. They were pushing carts with trunks on it, like she was. One boy had a white owl in a cage on top of his trunk.

Curious, she watched them as they walked straight toward a platform barrier. Her eyebrows rose as one after the other disappeared and she grinned. She soon had her cart lined up and she walked straight at the barrier, not stopping or slowing down as she got closer to it. Then she disappeared.

On the other side, the girl stared at the scarlet colored engine in front of her. She moved out of the way of the barrier behind her, but almost ran into the people ahead.

She left the cart by the barrier and pulled her light trunk up the steps and into a compartment. She was about to pull a book out of her bag, when three boys around her age tumbled into the compartment, laughing loudly.

The girl's wand was put in a flash and pointed at them, a fact they notice rather quickly. "Whoah! Calm down!" One yelped.

She winced. "Sorry about that, reflexes." She shrugged. "Do you guys have names?"

"I am Lee Jordan, and these two fools are Fred and George Weasley. Don't bother trying to figure whose who, I've been friends with them for four years and I still can't tell them apart!" The dark boy said.

"You forgot to mention that we're-"

"-the best pranksters in the school!" The two ginger boys said, one finishing the others sentence.

"Okay. My name is Rosa and I know something about pranks. What sort do you guys do?"

* * *

Running through the countryside was a big, shaggy dog. It was a bit on the thin side and seemed to limp occasionally. Anyone who saw the dog would say that it was just any stray dog, but those who met the dog's eye, or fed it would tell you, the animal was intelligent. Not just smart, like being able to do tricks and stuff. No, he seemed to understand what you were saying.

Many people said that the dog was a sign of something to come. Others said it was an overactive imagination, but there was no denying it, there was something strange about that dog.

* * *

The dark, soulless being prowled through the countryside by the tracks. It's job was to find the one who had managed to escape, but it also had to watch the train. The Mad One might follow the train and they couldn't have that, could they?

A strange sort of glimmer of something that resembled the prisoner came from one of the windows the being passed. It was strange, like a weaker version of what the being had seen a lot of at the prison. It turned and made for the train door. The prisoner was on the train, and it was going to find him.

* * *

Night had fallen outside the train. Rain streamed against the windows and if one really listened, they would hear the thunder that followed the flashes of lightning outside. No one was paying attention to the storm outside, brightly lit compartments were filled with student being sped toward their school. Some were reading their school books, others were practicing magic, but most were talking with their friends and racing back and forth between compartments.

Everyone froze when the lights started to flicker. A few of the prefects went to go look for the first years, but everyone one else either stayed in their compartment, or went looking for older students they could stay with.

Rosa and the boys jumped when the door to their compartment slammed open, they caught a glimpse of the ones who were trying to get in, but then there was a big lurch as the train stopped and then the lights went out completely.

"What's going on?" Rosa whispered. She had fallen onto Lee and Fred when the train had lurched.

"Not sure." Came the answer from George, who had fallen to the floor.

When their eyes adjusted to the dim, gray light that came from outside, they saw three boys laying on the floor of the compartment. Fred and George started sniggering at them, but Rosa shot them a glare and got up to help the younger students. She purposely knocked Fred's head with her elbow and stepped on George's leg as she did. The younger students were two huge boys and one small one, and from the colors of their ties and the disgusted looks on their faces, she guessed that they were Slytherins.

"Is it just me, or is it getting colder?" Lee randomly asked.

"Yeah," Rosa agreed, once she thought about it, "it is." The two rolled their eyes when the others didn't say anything because they were too busy glaring at each other.

"You know? This House rivalry has really gone too far, don't you think? Making eleven-year-olds enemies before school has...even...st-" she came to a shuddering stop as a tall creature stood in the doorway. It's rattling breath echoed around the small room.


	2. Introductions

The third year Slytherins had left the compartment, and the fifth year boys were left awkwardly looking at one another. Rosa hadn't said anything since the...thing had left the compartment. She just stared out the window with a blank look on her face, the chocolate in her hand untouched.

Now, the mischievous Gryffindor pranksters weren't idiots. They were actually quite brilliant at what they set their minds to, which is why their pranks almost always worked out amazingly well. To say that they didn't notice her reaction to the dementor or see Professor Lupin's worried and confused glance her way, would be calling them blind. However, after years of being around young women and girls, they didn't want to risk causing an angry witch to blow up the train, (no matter how funny it would be), so the rest of the train ride was a quiet one.

When they got close to Hogsmead Station, they pulled their robes over their heads and prepared to disembark.

The boys decided to take her with them in the carriages, then take her to Professor McGonagall once they reached the castle.

That was unnecessary, as the stern professor was waiting for her at the castle steps. They had barely started up the steps before the green clad woman had appeared.

"Miss Hunt, please come with me." Rosa nodded and followed the stern professor, leaving the boys behind.

They were still there when the green-clad witch came back. "Get into the Great Hall boys. I'm sure Miss Hunt can find her way there by herself in time for the sorting." They reluctantly made their way into the Great Hall and sat down near the end of the Gryffindor table. Other students steered clear of the three as they saw them getting into a heated discussion.

When Percy Weasley saw them, he rolled his eyes and headed over to talk his younger brothers into calming down at least until after the sorting. The conversation he heard as he got closer surprised him. He expected talk about pranks, or that stupid joke shop idea the boys were entertaining.

"-Gryffindor, no doubt about it."

"-Possible she could be a Hufflepuff, plenty of law enforcement come from that house. Amelia and Edgar Bones, Nymphadora Tonks-"

"Lee, how do you know these things?"

"I have a good memory." Percy could have laughed at the look on the twins face.

"No, seriously. how do you know."

Lee sighed. "Remember the Hufflepuff who could change her hair color? The Metamorphmagus."

"What about her?"

"She goes by Tonks and graduated at the end of our third year. She somehow made it into the Auror Program. No idea how, she is the clumsiest person I know."

Percy walked away. They weren't talking about any trouble they were planning on causing or coming up with ways to terrorize the first years, so he was going to leave before they found some reason to prank him.

* * *

As the last of the students trailing in, Dumbledore stood up. Silence fell, as students started to notice. Professor Dumbledore didn't usually make speeches before the sorting.

"Students, there is one person we would like to introduce before the sorting of the first years. Miss Rosa Hunt is a new student from America and she's going into her fifth year. I trust all of you will make her feel welcome."

The students watched as the tall, dark-haired girl exited the side chamber and walked over to the stool with the sorting hat. Professor McGonagall offered her a small smile as she placed the worn hat on the skinny girl's head. The wide brim of the hat fell over her eyes and brushed her nose. The noise of the Great Hall disappeared and the wait began.

* * *

'What now?' Rosa thought.

'Hmmm... you're older than the students I usually sort.'

'The hat is talking to me.' She thought blankly.

'Yes. Very observant."

'Shut up Hat. I haven't had the best day.' Rosa grumbled.

'I can see that. Quite the memory bank that dementor dug up didn't he?'

'What are you talking about?' Rosa demanded.

'Ah, I see you don't know. I'll let you find out on your own. Now to find your House.'

'Wait, hold on. What were you talking about?'

'You certainly are curious, aren't you. But not the studious type of curiosity. More of a trouble-seeking type of curiosity.'

'What do my memories have to do with anything?!'

'You are not ambitious, and your exuberance would overwhelm the Hufflepuffs. Looks like Gryffindor is your house.'

'Hold on. Don't I get a say in this?'

'No. Everything you have said has led me to this conclusion.'

'But what if I don't want to be in Gryffindor.'

'Gryffindor suits you the best. Besides, it minimizes the damage that will be caused if you were in any other house.'

'What's that suppose to mean?'

'You're friends with Weasley Twins, figure it out. GRYFFINDOR!' The Hat shouted the last bit for the whole hall to hear. 'Oh, I would recommend going to Gringotts. They have the best blood tests I hear.'

Before she could reply, the hat was lifted off her head. She blinked at the bright light and saw the three boys from the train waving her over. Guessing that she was supposed to sit at that table, she walked down the long pathway between the tables to where they were sitting.

Thankfully, the first years were led into the hall soon after she sat down, taking the attention away from her. She didn't pay attention to the sorting, instead she was listening to the boys. Lee was going on about how she was almost a 'Hatstall', while the twins were trying to get her to agree with a prank idea they had.

Their talking slowed when Dumbledore stood up and stopped during his speech. It didn't pick up until halfway through the feast, when a twin decided to introduce her to the other people at the table.

"That's Kenneth Towler, we share a dorm. Those two lovely ladies are Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. They're chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch team." Kenneth waved from down the table, Angelina and Alicia looked up at them and gave the twins a suspicious look before resuming their conversation with another girl.

"Thats the third chaser, Katie Bell. She's a fourth year right now." said the other twin, cutting into the conversation

"Our keeper is up there, talking to the blonde girl. She's Calla Grimm and his name is Oliver Wood." Supplies the first one.

"Down there is our seeker, talking to the redhead boy and the girl with bushy hair. The girl is Hermione Granger and the seeker is Harry Potter. The redhead is our younger brother, Ronald." says the other.

"He goes by Ron." Lee says.

Rosa smiled. "He's the keeper, those girls are the chasers, and the boy down there is the seeker, right?" the three boys nodded. "Well, who're the beaters?"

"Yes!"

"She knows quidditch!"

"Uh." Rosa stared as the twins started celebrating.

"You're one of the few girls the twins have befriended to actually know enough about quidditch to distinguish the players." Lee told her. "You might want to finish dinner while their distracted. I think they're planning on dragging you up to the common room to plan some pranks while everyone is finishing up."

"What did I get myself into?" Rosa groaned as she took his advice. Lee only laughed.


	3. First Day

Rosa gasped and sat up straight in her bed. she looked around the dorm room she shared with Angelina and Alicia. The gray light that came before sunrise filtered through the windows. Rosa groaned and fell back amongst her pillows. She knew that she wasn't going to get anymore sleep now that she was awake.

Reluctantly, she grabbed the notebook on her nightstand and started writing in it with a muggle pen.

Half an hour later she stopped writing. The other two girls were still sleeping, even as the sun finally made its appearance. Seeing as there wasn't much to do, she went ahead and got up. Out of her trunk came a simple white shirt and a pair of dark jeans. She pulled her black school robe on over the muggle clothing before slipping on a pair of dark leather boots that laced up the front. She placed her notebook into her bag as well as some parchment, quills and ink.

Rosa walked down the stairs into the common room while braiding her dark hair into two french braids. she finished the second as she was stepping out of the portrait hole.

Walking quickly, she arrived at the Great Hall while it was still empty of students, for the most part. Rosa saw two Hufflepuffs and seven Ravenclaws at their tables. Slytherin and Gryffindor tables were deserted of students. Rosa looked at her own empty table and walked over the the two Hufflepuffs.

"Do you mind if I sit with you guys while I wait for some people in my own house to show up?" She asked them.

The two looked at each other and the girl shrugged at the boy and said, "why not? There's no sense to sitting by yourself unless you're trying to study."

"Thanks." Rosa said, grinning at them as she sat down. "What are your names?"

"I'm Cassie," the girl said, "and this is Cedric."

"Nice to meet you, My name is Rosa."

* * *

By the time most of Gryffindor House had made it to breakfast, Rosa was still at the Hufflepuff table. More Hufflepuffs had join the group and names, as well as stories had been passed around the group. Some students were surprised to see the large group in the middle of the Puff's table, others just ignored it. Some of the sharper eyed students noticed the lone Gryff amongst the yellow and black.

The Weasley Twins didn't notice. They sat down to eat and were spooning food onto their plates when Lee came in and asked them where Rosa was. The two looked at each other and shrugged.

Lee sighed and glanced up and down the table, looking for the missing girl. It wasn't that unusual for the twins not to notice when someone wasn't there, even if that someone was a friend.

Lee could see some people glancing over the timetables they had just received. Others were dishing out food and talking to each other. He noticed a few were watching one of the tables behind him, so he turn and scanned those tables to find the point of interest.

That's when he spotted her, sitting next to Cedric Diggory and laughing at something one of his friends had said.

Sighing, he glanced at the twins, then got up and walked down the aisle between the two tables.

"It's dangerous, having friends on different Quidditch teams, especially if the Weasley Twins are your friends." He said once he reached her.

"Don''t worry." Rosa smiled up at him. "I can handle anything they can throw at me, can they say the same?" Lee laughed as the Hufflepuffs around them stared at her.

"You're going to continue hanging out with us, even if it is offering the Twins a pranking target" Said a pretty blonde girl sitting across from Rosa.

"I don't really care." She replied. "I'm good with pranks and I love a challenge. If Fred and George don't like me associating with members of Quidditch teams, they'll have to get over it."

"As much as I love this conversation," Less said, "we need to be at our table in order to get our timetables." Rosa nodded and said goodbye to her friends before walking back with Lee.

"Were you serious about pranking the twins back if they started pranking you?" He asked her while still out of the twins earshot.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "I had some experience at my old school. Any of my old classmates could tell you that starting a prank war with me is a bad idea."

He looked at her doubtfully. "Have the twin told you about any of their pranks, or shown you their 'tools'?" Lee asked.

She laughed. "Yes, they have. The 'tools' are decent, and their pranks are quite brilliant. But they aren't up to my standard."

Lee stared. "What?"

Rosa laughed again. "I'm going to have fun with this." she said as she sat down.

"Have fun with what?" One twin asked, looking up from his plate.

Rosa studied his face before smiling and saying, "nothing." She pulled a plate toward her and placed a piece of buttered toast on it. "I need to ask the house elves if they could serve grits*." she muttered, reaching for the strawberry jam.

Someone grabs it before her and she finds it in the grasp of the other twin. "What do you mean by, 'nothing'?" he asked.

She stares at him as well, then smirks and says. "I mean that its not any of your business, George." Rosa ignores his shocked face as she took the timetable offered to her. She glanced it over then stood up. "see you in class." She grabbed her toast and walked out of the Great Hall.

"What just happened?" George asked.

"I don't know, mate." Lee said, finishing his plate. "She's different, that's for sure. She's also right, we need to get to class."

* * *

After an interesting class about some of the more medicinal plants, they were off to Potions. Rosa thought that it was a brilliant system. Learn about cultivating the plant and it's uses, then learn how to properly use the plant as an ingredient.

Apparently, she was the only student who held this view. Everyone around her was complaining, or making derogatory comments about the teacher. This was confusing because even if the teacher was mean, you should still try to learn from him and respect his rules.

They entered the classroom and she sat next to a student who was sitting by himself. The student, a dark haired, thickset boy an inch or two taller than herself, turned to look at her and did a double take. He glanced around the room, then looked back at her.

"Are you sure you want to sit here?" he said, in a slightly mocking tone.

Rosa looked around. "I don't see anyone else without a partner." She pointed out. "So yes, I do want to sit here."

"But you're a Gryffindor!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, yes I am." She countered. "Why? Does that matter?" Her innocent response had apparently shocked the other student: he hadn't come up with a response by the time the teacher had pulled out his student list and begun reading off the names.

Rosa heard the sharpness in the man's tone as he laid out the rules and wrote out the potion they were to make that day. She left to get the ingredients while her unwilling partner set up their table.

Returning to her station, she set the supplies in the center of the table and started setting up her cauldron. Her partner, who she still didn't know that name of, got to work cutting up some of his ingredients.

Rosa read the instructions, then looked at the ingredients for the first two steps. She started to prepare them, and put aside the ones that were ready. Then she began heating her cauldron. Using the methods she had learned from her past teachers and her experiences while cooking, she began to construct her potion.

Making sure that she had the ingredients needed for the next step prepared, she looked around the room. Most students were working on their individual potions, though there were a few from both sides of the room throwing dark glances at other students cauldrons.

Her stirring finished, she poured the yarrow powder into the potion, turning the green mixture a strange yellow color. Exhaling, she dropped a crushed myrabolan fruit into the steaming liquid and turned down the heat as the potion started turning black. She was turning to gather the chopped seeds for the next step, when a small explosion erupted from the back of the class. Rosa turned to look, even as she scattered the seeds across the top of the potion.

A fuming girl and an ashamed looking boy stood next to a smoking, melted cauldron. Professor Snape stalked to the back of the class, vanished the mess and reprimanded both students. He took twenty points from Gryffindor, then went back to his desk. The two students sat down and began pulling out writing supplies for the essay he had given them to do b the end of class.

Rosa returned to her cauldron, the potion inside now a satisfying brown. While she thought that Professor Snape's teaching manner could be improved, she did understand his harshness. This particular potion was extremely volatile when mishandled. Those two were lucky that it was only a melted cauldron.

The end of class was in sight when Rosa bottled her final result. The red potion sat in it's flask as she cleaned up her side of the table. She cleaned her cauldron, put the ingredient scraps into separate glass vials and wiped down her desk. She brought the flask up to the teachers desk, as well as the vials.

He didn't look up, so she left them on he desk and went back to her seat. The bell hadn't rung yet, so she pulled out her Potions book and started reading it.

She put the book away when students around her began taking their flasks up to the teacher's desk and packing their stuff up. Rosa remained seated as her stuff was already put away, and waited to be dismissed. The bell rang and students began leaving, but Professor Snape didn't look up from his work. Confused, Rosa followed the other students out into the corridor and up to the Great Hall for lunch.

When she sat down at the Gryffindor table, she asked those around her, "Why didn't anyone wait for Professor Snape to dismiss us?"

"Why would we?" Fred asked, biting into a roll.

"It's respectful." she said, dishing some carrots onto her plate.

"No one is respectful to Snape." George clarified.

"He's a git." Lee concurred.

Rosa bit into one of her carrots. she swallowed and continued, "So? He's still a teacher, and he holds a position of authority. Shouldn't that be enough to respect him?"

"Rosa," Lee explained. "Snape looks down on Gryffindors as it is. You saw how he was in class, he uses every excuse to take points from us. It's worse if you're on his bad side."

"Alright then. Lets give him a reason to respect us. Have you guys ever heard the term, 'Kill them with kindness'?" She asked, smirking.

Fred looked at her, interested. "What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing much." she admitted. "Only a starting point. Small things."

"Like what?" George asked, suddenly wary.

"Simple things." she said. "Things like, saying thank you, waiting to be dismissed, and treating him respectfully." she pointed her fork at them. "I bet you two can't do it."

The twins eyes lit up with the challenge and they began a whispered conversation, while Lee and Rosa finished up Lunch.

"You shouldn't have done that, Lee said, draining his glass. "They'll beat your bet."

"I know," she said, eating the final bit on her plate. "That was the plan."

"You're evil, you know that?"

"Yup."

* * *

The class after lunch was Transfiguration. Rosa liked the stern professor, she taught fairly and didn't put up with nonsense. Though Professor McGonagal could lighten up on the homework she gave out.

Charms came after Transfiguration and was quite fun. The little professor gave them a speech about O.W.L.s, then gave them some charms to warm up with. Rosa and the twins had fun with this. They used the summoning charm and the color-changing charm on each other, causing Professor Flitwick to send them to opposite sides of the room, not that it helped.

After Charms, Rosa slipped off to the library. She had been around enough mischievous kids to know that they didn't appreciate getting told to do their homework, and they sometimes looked down on those who did complete their homework on time.

In the library, she managed to get through the assigned homework from Professors Flitwik and Sprout. She left McGonagal's for tomorrow, then wrote out an outline for the potion she had made that morning. The outline was a habit from her previous school, one she was unwilling to break because she learned more from doing the outline than from making the potion.

* * *

Dinner was different from the previous night. The Great Hall was somehow even louder and rowdier. She guessed that it had something to do with the lack of a train journey, but it was driving her crazy. For some reason she was getting more and more frustrated with the people around her, so when she had finished half of her plate, she got up and left the Great Hall.

Instead she wandered through the castle. With all the different paintings, statues and tapestries, the castle was wonderfully mysterious and Rosa loved it. The empty halls lit by flickering torches were fascinating to her.

She barely made it back to her common room before curfew. She wasn't the only one. Several other students were hurrying through the halls and there were a few around the Gryffindor entrance.

The large amount of Gryffindors in the common room was startling. She had imagined most of the Gryffindor Tower occupants getting ready for bed, but most of them didn't seem like heading to bed.

Feeling the irritation starting to come back, Rosa started for the girl dorms. Halfway there she was waylaid by the twins. She pressed her lips together in an effort to not yell at them and tried to listen. It didn't take her long to figure out that they weren't going to stop anytime soon.

"Guys, it sounds lovely, but I have to go to bed." she told them.

"But it's only ten!" George exclaimed.

"I know it is." She replied.

"So why are you going to bed?" Fred asked.

"Because it's ten and I still haven't gotten used to the time change." she snapped.

"Just let her go to bed, you two." Lee spoke up. "You could tell that she was trying to get to her dorm as soon as she entered the room." The twins sighed, but didn't argue. Rosa shot Lee a grateful look, then escaped to her dorm.

* * *

 **so, I finally finished this chapter. And it went a lot deeper into Rosa's character than I thought it would. Please tell me what you guys think, if this chapter was way too crazy or if it was just right. Thank you for reading!**


End file.
